Members of NATO and the European Union should investigate the supply of nitrocellulose (a raw material used in the production of ammunition) to Russia via third countries by Western companies and impose sanctions on such companies. It is also worth considering the possibility of imposing sanctions on the supply of all types of cotton products to the Russian Federation, as they can be processed into nitrocellulose and used for the production of projectiles. said French senator, member of the French Senate Committee on Defense and International Relations Guillaume Gontard, informs Censor.NET.
“The Wall Street Journal's investigation that Russia is importing nitrocellulose for munitions through a Turkish company and indirectly through German and Taiwanese companies is deeply troubling. If confirmed, this would be a serious problem. On the one hand, Russia doubled its imports of nitrocellulose last year, on the other hand, European industrial enterprises are afraid of the lack of this most important component, which may affect their own production”, — the senator declared.
“Members of NATO and the European Union should investigate this issue and strengthen sanctions by applying them to every company that exports nitrocellulose. They should also consider including on the sanctions list all cotton products, because they can be converted into nitrocellulose,” — noted the French politician
“Despite some misleading statements by Western leaders, including the President of France, we have not switched to a “military economy”. Two years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the time has come to do so,” — summed up Gontar.
Remember, the American edition of The Wall Street Journal< /strong> conducted an investigation, as a result of which it was established that a significant part of the raw materials used by the Russian Federation for the production of ammunition (nitrocellulose) was produced by companies in Taiwan, Germany and the USA, and supplied to the Russian Federation. Most of the deliveries were made by a Turkish company, despite the existing sanctions restrictions.
The reason for the WSJ investigation was the report by the Center for Defense Reforms “The Russian Projectile Coalition: Who and How Helps the Russian Federation Produce Explosives”, which described the facts of such supplies and proposed solutions for countermeasures, in particular, the introduction of a full embargo on the supply to Russia of raw materials used for the production of ammunition: nitrocellulose, cotton pulp, cotton.